The Real Dad Podcast
Each week, these four fathers cover a wide range of "Dad" related topics, from the joys of watching your child grow up to the challenges of balancing work and family life. With their unique blend of humor and authenticity, Dave, Joey, Brian, and Mark provide a refreshing perspective on what it means to be a dad in today's world.
Tune in for the laughs, stay for the heartfelt conversations about the struggles and triumphs of parenting. Whether you're a seasoned dad or a soon-to-be father, "The Real Dad Podcast" is the perfect place to connect with other dads and get the support you need.
Join us on this journey of fatherhood, and subscribe to "The Real Dad Podcast" today!
The Real Dad Podcast
Backyard Boundaries, Teen Freedom
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What if the most powerful parenting tool is just five words: “I’m so glad you told me”? We put that idea to the test as four dads trade first-drunk stories, secrecy, and guilt for a more honest approach to risk and responsibility. The conversation begins where real life happens—smokers, kitchen wins and fails, Friday night rituals—and then heads straight into the messy middle: teens will test limits, so do we clamp down or coach up?
We talk about why prohibition often backfires and how education—clear info, safe plans, and a standing “call me” policy—keeps kids safer than silence. The script “I’m so glad you told me” becomes our anchor through every stage: broken mugs, tough friendships, serious concerns like eating disorders, and those late-night calls from college. We unpack how it shifts us from judges to guides, reduces shame, and keeps the relationship strong when it matters most. No one plays expert here; when we don’t know, we model curiosity, ask what our kids think, and use prompts like “What would you tell a friend?” to match depth to readiness.
Then we share a big life moment: after a rollercoaster of appraisals, lenders, and last-minute doubt, the cottage dream finally lands. That first winter weekend brings ice-skating, tree-dodging toboggans, and a surprising kind of healing—the kind you feel when kids rediscover boredom as a superpower and the woods become their playground. It’s equal parts practical and personal: set safe edges, honor small bids for attention, and keep the door open for the big stuff with those five words. If you’re navigating teen curiosity, craving better scripts, or just need a reminder that trust grows in small moments, you’ll feel at home here.
If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—it helps more parents find conversations that matter.
As dads, like we've talked about watching your kids do dangerous things, whether that's on a playground or whatever, you let them explore limits. But then how does that age? When they're teenagers, are they gonna explore them anyways? So like you said, as long as it's in your backyard, then you at least can see what's going on.
SPEAKER_10:That's definitely a popular mentality that at least if it's at my house and I can govern it.
SPEAKER_05:In your upbringing, did things have to be hidden? Yes. And would there have been a difference if they didn't have to be hidden?
SPEAKER_10:It definitely anything I did do was hidden. It was very also easy to hide.
SPEAKER_03:Did you also hide it from God?
SPEAKER_10:You can't hide anything from God.
SPEAKER_09:No, you just wreck yourself with guilt for the next 20 minutes.
SPEAKER_00:Still working off that beer I had when I was 15.
SPEAKER_06:If you got some time to relax your mind, come on. This is the real dad podcast.
SPEAKER_05:Welcome to the Real Dad Podcast. I'm Dave. I'm Joey.
SPEAKER_01:I'm Mark. And I'm Brian. What's that?
SPEAKER_05:Oh, that was the fastest one yet!
SPEAKER_01:I was a bing bang boom right there. Wow. I was a big fan of that.
SPEAKER_05:I almost started into a remix of no brook boys, no new friends. Oh, great.
SPEAKER_08:I don't think I know that one.
SPEAKER_05:No, it came on on the way home from hockey today with my daughter, and every time it comes on, instant dance party in the car. Oh, it's gotta be so catchy. I'm so embarrassing, and I love it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's just a good vibes tune, that one. Yeah, love it. Bringing the spirits up of everybody around. You know?
SPEAKER_08:Yeah, it's exciting. How's everybody doing? Bro, I'm coming off a five like five-star weekend. Oh, me too. Five-star weekend. All right. It's just the smoking. So I I started this thing where Robin. I'll let them think whatever it is. They don't want to think hookah. Think thoughts, bro. I don't care.
SPEAKER_01:Um big into hookah this weekend.
SPEAKER_08:I started giving Robin her biggest pet peeve is trying to come up with dinner. Right. And like meals. Yes. So I've always, I say always, it's like maybe four weekends a year that I'll do like a big breakfast. Okay. But the last two Sundays has been like this Sunday, I was in the kitchen for 10 hours. And I didn't hate it. I didn't hate my life at all. Very good. First time smoking a stuffed chicken. Was it cheaper than the tenderloin? Way cheaper. Okay. The whole meal. Shut up for a second. Yeah, yeah. The whole meal was$35. Okay, there you go. Fed four of us twice. Very good. Oh damn. Very good. You can't go out for that. No, that's ridiculous.
SPEAKER_02:In this economy? Are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_05:That's a big dad move.
SPEAKER_01:I do have a question because it sounds like people who smoke things just think everything tastes better on a smoker. Yeah. So what's something that you've tried that doesn't taste better on the smoker?
SPEAKER_05:Oh, interesting. That is a good question. Has it failed?
SPEAKER_01:Because I'm about to call bullshit at some point.
SPEAKER_08:No, I did uh like a mashed potato. Yeah. And it it just tastes like ash. Yeah. It just soaks all that smoked. Too much ash. But like scallop potatoes are really good. Oh different. Yeah. I I can see that.
SPEAKER_05:See, I that's getting me interested in that you're doing more things. I always just think of it as just meat on the grill, but you're doing everything in there.
SPEAKER_08:Dude, the best thing you can put on a grill, and I don't care who you are. See, the problem is I don't like ribs or brisket. So that's automatically an apple brush. You don't like a bone. I don't, yeah, I don't like the two things you are supposed to smoke like on a smoker.
SPEAKER_01:No bone on a brisket.
SPEAKER_08:Um touche. I had to think about that. An apple pie. Like an apple crumble on the smoker for hours at like a hundred degrees. See. Holy Hannah, Montana.
SPEAKER_05:Oh that reminds me of that one time when I roasted the apple pie on the on the fire on the campfire.
SPEAKER_04:You did.
SPEAKER_05:Not quite the same. I had gotten like an apple pie from the grocery store, and this is after one of the golf weekend nights, so you're exhausted and slightly intoxicated. I was like, oh, I know, I can heat it up on the fire. So it's got like the aluminum tray that it's sitting in and just sodding on top of the fire. Brian's like, there is a lot of chemicals here if they're doing that.
SPEAKER_04:Oh yeah, get in my belly.
SPEAKER_01:I've also cooked alphagetti on the stove in the can before. When that's not good. When I was like 10. Yeah. What kind of element was it? Oh, just like uh electric? Yeah, electric. Oh, sweet baby Jesus. Yeah, so gross. Get it. So gross.
SPEAKER_08:Or Chef Boy Artie done that too. I remember one time, and I'm not gonna say his name, and I'm sorry, mom, but I was sleeping over at my buddy's house. We got super high. We weren't supposed to, because it wasn't exactly street legal back in the day. Yep, yep, yep. Um and we his parents got sick of us eating all of their food in the middle of the night. So he they his room is in the basement, but they legit locked us in the basement. So we went out, we went out the door, and I don't know where it even came from, is not important, but we found a can of Chef Boy RD, but we had no way of opening it, so we lit a fire in his backyard who lives in the suburbs. You're not allowed to do that. It's also 2 30 in the morning. You're high, chef. High as a kite. And it's probably not Chef Boy RD.
SPEAKER_02:No kidding.
SPEAKER_08:Dog food. But we had no way of opening it. We just took the can and put it on this fire. And anyways, we're trying to figure out things. So we take a stick and like jam it in there, and we're like the two of us are like having a thing. And when you're in that moment, you're like, you're thinking you're so incognito that you just like forget about everything. So you leave all the evidence in a pile and then go fall asleep somewhere. And then his dad would wake us up and we were like trying to be quiet because we didn't want him to know. And he's like, You two cheechin chongs. First of all, thanks for doing it in my backyard. Right. But second of all, I've had both neighbors call me already this morning. And I watched the whole damn thing from my bedroom window.
SPEAKER_04:I was gonna say I can picture the parents high as a kite upstairs watching these two idiots.
SPEAKER_08:Look at these idiots. But like the that was the beauty about them was like they they knew we were like harmless, whatever, but like they let us, you know, kind of not let, but like they they didn't have to fear. Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_10:Because it's not like we were in the park somewhere or something, but they still watch to make sure like nobody ended up hitting the fire, you know. Yeah, exactly. Responsible parenting.
SPEAKER_05:That's a good question in like how that ages, because as dads, like we've talked about watching your kid, kids do dangerous things, whether that's on a playground or whatever, and you you let them explore limits, whether that's climbing a tree a little higher than you feel comfortable with, yeah, or I don't know, whatever random things kids are doing dangerously out there. But then how does that age? Like, are you like do you continue to let your kid explore those limits? When they're teenagers, are they gonna explore them anyways? So like you said, as long as it's in your backyard, then you at least can see what's going on.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah, yeah. I mean that that's definitely a a popular mentality that at least if it's at my house and I can govern it, then yeah, stretch the limits, see what you're gonna do. At least if it's here, right?
SPEAKER_05:You because uh in your upbringing did things have to be hidden? Yes. And would there have been a difference if they didn't have to be hidden?
SPEAKER_08:Interesting.
SPEAKER_10:I didn't get in a lot of trouble. So I feel like for me, it definitely anything I did do was hidden. It was very also easy to hide.
SPEAKER_03:Did you also hide it from God?
SPEAKER_10:You can't hide anything from God.
SPEAKER_03:No, I just judges.
SPEAKER_09:You just wreck yourself with guilt for the next 20 years.
SPEAKER_00:I was still working off that beer I had when I was 15.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah, because we were I remember going when we first had when I first drank was grade nine and it was at a buddy's place. And we waited until the kids went to or not the kids, the parents went to sleep and just raided the liquor cabinet, went outside and were just drinking on the trampoline. Right. Ran out of liquor and then walked to our other buddy's place to raid his liquor cabinet. It was disgusting. Like you're friggin' 14 years old, everything is disgusting, it's all cheap alcohol, and yeah, you just whatever. You remember it though. I remember it. Yeah, was it a good time? It wasn't, it wasn't, because everything just tasted disgusting to me. Yeah. I'm a 14-year-old kid with a super high metabolism, so I don't even remember getting drunk because we were just we were outside bouncing on the trampoline drinking, and then walked probably so far four or five kilometers to my other buddy's place because we live in the country to drink some more and then fall asleep. Yeah. When when did you get drunk for the first time?
SPEAKER_05:So mine was in the summer between grade eight and grade nine. Yeah. Same thing. A buddy's parents were away, and we were over at his house, and he got into his dad's liquor cabinet, and we were drinking like hard liquor, and you're doing the things that you think you're supposed to do based on like movies, right? So you're putting salt on your hand and like licking the salt and then taking a shot of whatever alcohol it was. Vodka. It was disgusting. Yeah, but uh yeah, I got like blackout drunk. Me and another guy passed out on like the the like boulevard, like the side of the grass by the road. You're like, you there's like you know the lawn signs, like the politician ones. Yeah, you're like hiding behind one of those, thinking that you're like in a tent. Like, this is hiding me. Like nobody knows I'm passed out right now, right here. And then found my way home. Same thing, a long ass journey home, puking the whole way, like through a forest, then down another road. I remember going down this one road, and um, some other like hockey friends of mine were skateboarding, and I sat down on the curb there for a little while to like regroup and then kept going home. Got into the door and was like, I was playing football with my friends, I'm really tired and I go to bed. Yeah. And just straight up onto my bed and crashed the rest of the day. And like my parents never asked me about it. Yeah. And I'm like thinking, I'm like, if my son just came home like that, would I think, oh yeah, that makes sense. He was probably playing football with the guys that checks out, or would you know what was going down?
SPEAKER_10:But you were that kid though, like you would be out of the house doing shit like that. That's what I mean, right? Right. You would be out playing football.
SPEAKER_05:It seemed like I was proud of myself to come up with that kind of backstory in the state that I was in. Yeah. Um, that kept me from drinking again for the rest of high school, I think. Like I didn't go to parties and drink because that was like you got so fucked up that you were like, that's not fun, not doing that ever again. Yeah.
SPEAKER_08:Interesting. When's what's yours?
SPEAKER_01:I can't really I I don't know if I'm misremembering, but like my friends in high school were all like pretty like clean, like nerds. Kinda. Yeah. Yeah. And uh I was in like a music scene and it was all about not drinking and doing drugs, so it was like not really a thing until I I'm pretty sure the first time I got drunk drunk was in university. Whoa. Yeah, so it was uh messy one. I drank a bottle of uh Mickey of uh Crown Royal too fast. Oh, yeah, yeah. And uh regretted it.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it was messy. Yeah, but that's what I oh sorry, go ahead.
SPEAKER_08:I remember my both my grandparents were alcoholics, so my parents didn't touch booze growing up, so it was like not a thing in our house ever. The only time I remember booze as a kid was when we were at the cottage and my uncles and stuff, they would pay me to go get them beer from like the sketchy place across the street. Okay.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, like not from the cottage, they'd make you go to the store to buy it.
SPEAKER_08:The way our cottage was set up was the water side had this like red, abandoned, haunted, like shed looking thing on the property. There the road went through it, and then like the main cottage was on like on the the like north side of the road. Oh so it was like the waterfront was just a giant field with this red haunted dwelling that had the remember the the appliances in the 80s, like the hum of these appliances. Everyone remember those things? It was like what haunted movies, like what scary movies were made out of. So I'm pretty sure you walk into this thing, this is where like Jason and Freddie Krueger hung out. Yeah, it was so dark. It was their weekend spot, middle of the fucking day, and it was somehow completely dark. I don't even think it had a roof on it, it was wild. Anyways, they would pay me like probably a penny now that I'm thinking about it to go and get them or bottle caps. I think it was bottle caps. I used to put them in my hat with like a pop tab. Those bastards. Anyways, I remember going to get them like Molson Canadian. I tried a sip, I was like, this is all gross. So when we when I got to high school, I lied to try and fit in with like these kids. Like I they were like wanted to be my friend for some reason, and I was like, Yeah, let's do this. So we were at one buddy's birthday party, and I guess he had drank all the time. So his mom was like, Yeah, you you guys can come over and I'll buy you alcohol. What do you want? And he's like, I I want a Bubba of Moles and Canadian, and I was like, Oh fuck, I hate Moles and Canadian.
SPEAKER_06:Right, right.
SPEAKER_08:I was like, What what bubas do they come like? And he's like, Cooler's light. I was like, Yeah, I want one of those. Wrong idea. Yeah, what's better? And I was trying to I was trying to drink with these guys, and I was like, I fell asleep on the park bench, and then I just remember the same thing, like sleeping on the boulevard. Somebody was dragging me at one point, and then I woke up the next day, and it was like the buddy was like, dude, like you need to go home. I was like, I am fucking going home like this. No, but call them again. I'm staying over tonight, too. And then I wonder how many, because I would have been like what nine, like 2000, maybe 99 or something. Sorry. I wonder how many drunken 13-year-olds were just littered across the boulevard. Probably in the year two times. You know what I mean? Oh, yeah. I think about it now, like the 13-year-olds that I know album cover, probably. Because I've talked to so many people who are like the first time I got drunk was in grade nine, and I passed out on the boulevard. That's it. Annihilated the discarded 14-year-old. Grade nine, stupid drunk.
SPEAKER_05:So, do you let your kid explore those within like as a as a parent? But like, do you try to control it by letting it happen in your house or be the like be able to have it happen within arm's reach the same way that like your kid climbing the tree or under the tree, you can catch them, or when they're going down the slide head first, you're at the bottom of the slide, or I don't know if it's a real ex realistic expectation that they just do it at your house.
SPEAKER_01:They're gonna want to, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:But that I was curious because it wasn't necessarily like I was allowed to or not allowed to, but I was curious in a household where it was okay, does it take away the like the thrill? The thrill to yeah, wanna like go and and have that experience if it's just like yeah, sure, have a sip of my beer. Yeah, sure, you want to try this wine, go for it.
SPEAKER_08:I think like the the age that we were at. Let me just start over there. I don't think kids know how to be bored enough to like do that. I think there's a layer of fear. That's probably true. You know what I'm saying? Like, we I remember being like, this is fucking boring. Yeah, like do something. That's like we could point and kid like kids, they just don't know how to be bored. So it's like they I don't know if they'll even think about it. Unless obviously if it's a part of the ecosystem or like something along those lines, maybe, but like I don't know. I'm looking at my nieces and my nephews and the thing, and it's like, piss off, like go be bored, figure it out, go over there or downstairs, and that's the thing, right? Is like and we like we had space. Like, I don't my daughter was playing in the living room so loud yesterday, and I was like, This you have a whole ass bedroom. Like, I never left my room as a kid, and like with my brothers and everything, I would hang out in a in like a room smaller than this. We would like play with the the car mat. Remember that little car mat with dinky cars for hours, and like these kids just don't have it in them anymore. It's a 15-minute intervals before they want snacks and dopamine hits on their screens. It's gratification.
SPEAKER_10:It's it's scary though, right? It is. I think my thing for that is like my goal as a parent is to just at the bare minimum educate them, like let them know what can happen. Because that I think was one of the major differences, is it was just a no for our family. Right, right. Yeah, so don't even talk about it. Yeah, if you don't talk about it and it's just labeled as a no. That doesn't work with kids and teenagers, teenagers specifically. It's like if it's just a no, now I'm curious. Now I gotta find out for myself. Where I plan to just strictly educate them. I don't I hope that we're not in a place where we're trying to set up these big boundaries and stop them from doing it, because again, I think that encourages them to do it on safe. Right. Yeah. Where just educating them on okay, yeah, these are gonna do this, these are gonna do this. If you take that, it's gonna do this. You might just regret it. But go out and live it and just please do it safely. Like make sure that there's an adult somewhere and you never take this much of that or whatever, right?
SPEAKER_01:And then they're not riddled with guilt if they do try something here or something. That's the big one, though. Just avoiding guilt.
SPEAKER_08:I think well, in a way, yeah, because my parents never had booze in our house, and so it was like taboo for me. So if I was out with my buddies and whose parents did drink at their house and that was a norm for them. Right. I don't even I think I've seen my dad drink two beers in my whole. This is how my dad, okay, my dad is uh 70 almost, and he thinks Miller genuine draft is draft beer.
SPEAKER_02:Like we've had to have this conversation with him.
SPEAKER_08:I was like, draft beer like tastes really good. He's like, Oh yeah, that's my favorite. And then he's like, You said I couldn't get draft in a can. I was like, You are a moron. It's not says it right on the can. Yeah, he's like, What do you what do you mean? It's right here. I was like, Oh my god. Anyways, but I I don't think I think obviously it comes to like whatever you're exposed to, and I don't know if there's that element like my daughter thinks that getting drunk is scary, it's like the scariest thing that you can do. So she's like, Oh no, dad, like, are you gonna get drunk? Like if you're drinking this thing. Yeah, because we've had conversations like her grandfather passed away because he was driving a snowmobile when he was drunk. Right. It's so for her, it's like that's a that's a huge scary thing. You could die. Yeah. Right.
SPEAKER_05:So it's the association that kids can make with things, right?
SPEAKER_08:And and who knows what that impacts them or like what what guides it. But I do think it's important to have like healthy conversations, obviously, but like setting the example as well. Like I don't think I think it's if you're gonna if you're gonna completely remove booze from them or only drink when they're asleep or or or like certain things, they're gonna get curious and they're gonna go to a friend's house, they're gonna be exposed to it, they're gonna be like, you know, yeah, let's let's let's party in there. Yeah, but I don't know if there is enough again, our kids to like try it, taste it, hate it to try it again. Right. Do you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_10:They may never circle back.
SPEAKER_08:That's what I'm saying. Like our parents were like, eat what's in front of you, you have to eat it. So we're like, oh fuck, okay. So we learn how to eat things you don't like. These kids don't do that.
SPEAKER_05:I guess we're finishing this whole bottle within the next 20 minutes. That's it. Do you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_10:Yeah, yeah. They have improved themselves so they can get over that hump. We had to learn that early. That's what I mean.
SPEAKER_05:I'm gonna get in trouble if I don't finish this Mickey because you don't want to waste it.
SPEAKER_10:And then the guilt. Um, the next layer to this that I wanted to bring up, and it's something I want to talk about anyways. Something that is I really want to incorporate, and it's from a post that my wife sent me, and I'll give credit to nurtured first. They're the ones who posted it. So uh the story goes like this I'm three years old, I broke a mug, I told my dad. His first words were, I'm so glad you told me. Help me clean it up, clean up the broken pieces. Now I'm five years old, I peed my pants in front of my friend's house. I told my dad his first words, I'm so glad you told me. Wrapped up the sweater around me, helps me feel less embarrassed, gets me out of the situation. Now I'm seven. My friend told me she doesn't like me. I told my dad his first words, I'm so glad you told me. He helps me mend the broken heart as he explains that friendships change over time. Now I'm twelve. My dad my friend told me she doesn't eat anymore so that she can stay skinny. I tell my dad his first words, I'm so glad you told me. Helps me understand that eating disorders are too big of an issue for tweens to help each other. And then he steps in to make sure that she's taken care of. I'm 19, I just moved to university, everything feels new and scary. I want to be here, but I miss my home. I call my dad knowing what he'll say. I'm so glad you told me. It's like that was going. Yeah, and it hit me really hard and like realizing that like that's something that's so, so important to me with my relationship with my kids. And then I want to start doing that with the menial shit. When they break something, but they have the courage to come and talk to me about it, when they mess up, whatever. Because I have kids right now that do they trust me and they come to me with things. And I don't always respond in that way. And I'm not going to. We're all human, we're gonna make mistakes, we're gonna overreact when they come to us to things. But I want to be more and more purposeful to have that response specifically. Not necessarily maybe I won't use those words, but something along those lines of thank you so much for talking to me about this. Let's find a solution. And I feel like that helps get into that mindset too, having that as the trigger response. I'm so glad you told me, because now you're in that mindset of let's find a solution, let's work away through this, rather than what can be my own knee-jerk reaction is here we go. Another thing on my plate that I'm gonna have to figure out now. But if that's the reaction that's ingrained into your kid that they're going to get from you, then if things did happen, if they did go out and get wasted and whatever happened, happened, but at least if they're gonna come back to me and tell me that you can help them through it and you can educate them on why that happened the way that it did and what they can do differently next time, right? And I think that's and we've talked about this a lot on the podcast. Like that's one of the number one things for me with my kids. I just want them to know that they can always talk. Like that would be the most important thing.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I think that's huge, and that's like that's building trust, right? Like that's what that is over those years is building trust in a safe place that they can come to where there isn't guilt and there isn't shame, right? Like you are able to just be there and provide them with knowledge or provide them with what they need in that moment and not bring shame and guilt into it. And it builds that trust, and then building that trust over time is what continues to keep a relationship alive, right? Where you think a lot of parent-sibling relationships can tend to die off because there isn't necessarily that same trust and relationship that's been built because it's been built on the getting drunk on the sidewalk and not telling them. Right. And all of these little things that you're doing almost behind your parents' back, and you're you're you're creating your own story that they aren't even aware of because you're afraid that if they hear what you've been doing, it's not gonna come with I'm so glad you told me. It's gonna come with how could you be doing this? What are you doing? You're wasting your life, why are you doing this? And it's shame and it's putting you down, and then that ends that relationship because it doesn't feel safe to come to that person anymore. And then you're an adult, so then you just have to deal with it on your own.
SPEAKER_10:And not only that, I think it teaches your kid that they have to figure things out on their own. That they don't have someone that they can go to with it, so they just speak from experience. I think that was a lot of my experiences. Then I just learned, okay, I don't have anywhere that anyone that I'm gonna take this to to help me figure it out. So I'm gonna figure it out on my own. And then you just get used to hiding the things and figuring out the mistakes on your own. But when you're a kid, you're not gonna figure it out. You're you're just gonna learn to be lonely.
SPEAKER_05:Right.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:My brain wrestles with that and like wonders in that circumstance because like there are things that you want to teach your kids how to do independently. So it's one of those, like, okay, which one what is was which one am I supposed to say this right word to or not?
SPEAKER_10:And I think that's reading your kid too, right? Like through those different ages. When it's the three-year-old, they need your help cleaning up that mess, right? But I what I liked about that post is you do get a sense of that is as the kid was getting older, it was, I'm so glad you told me. It slowly morphs into, I think, here's how you can go about fixing it. Here's how you can go about like you're now that's just the source of wisdom. Yeah, you're not the one they're gonna come to so that you fix it, you're the one that they come to so that you can help guide them for next steps so that when they're 19 and had struggling in university and missing home, whatever, they know they can call you, you're gonna give them that response, and then you're gonna say, either just connect with them and relate with them to make them know that they're not alone in that scenario, but you're also gonna just kind of equip them with what you can to get them through it, right?
SPEAKER_05:If you get a call from one of my kids at one point, just say, I'm glad you call. I'm so glad you called. Because if I forget and screw up those moments, it's gonna be like, fuck, just call Uncle Joe. He knows how to handle this shit. I don't know what I'm doing here.
SPEAKER_01:Hopefully. The problem is you beat yourself up as a parent sometimes because you you think that those moments where you don't handle it well are going to last, like be more impactful than the moments where where you do handle it well. Yeah, because it seems to be that way when they're younger, anyway. It's like you did this this one time, so like now that's that's how I remember you do you handling something.
SPEAKER_05:What about your kid bringing something to you that you don't necessarily know either how to handle or how to answer?
SPEAKER_08:I asked my wife. No joke. I literally will go like it, it has happened. I don't know if I can share this or not, but it has happened very like we're in a situation like that right now. And I was like, I don't know how to handle this, yeah, because I I just my solution is I'm gonna go beat these parents up, right? And I know that's not a viable solution, but it's the one I have, but it's the only one I have.
SPEAKER_05:So often I think um parents think they need to know the answers to everything or think that they should. And so so often kids just assume that their parents know everything. So, like, is there an element to a good element to just being like, you know what, I'm not sure, but like let's find out together then?
SPEAKER_01:Actually, yeah, sorry, go ahead. Oh, I was just gonna say yes, and I also just I just return the question. I'm like, oh no, what do you think about that? And like I get them to start kind of start the conversation and help them work through it that way. Work through the curiosity or whatever that is. So I even if I don't have the answer, we can still have a discussion about it and like what their specific questions about that thing are.
SPEAKER_08:One way to like structure that that we've been using from one of the infinite reels that I've gotten is to ask them if you so like if you had if one of your friends asked you that, what would you say to them? Right, right, and it like completely changes their perspective. Because it goes from like kids aren't stupid and they try to tell you what you they think you want to hear in those situations if you were like what do you think about that? And they're like and it's like a guess. But uh we've been trying it with our son who's four, and it's like he takes a second, he thinks about it, and he like gives a like a legit kid answer. Answer like some of them are are good and some of them are great, but like a lot of them is like you know, I don't know, stupid questions. I shouldn't say stupid questions, but like they're questions about, you know, like who's stronger, a gorilla or a you know, a spider. Right. And you're like, if one of your friends came and asked you that, you know, would you think and it does they're like, ah, yeah, I don't know. That's a tricky one. That's a tricky one.
SPEAKER_10:I feel like that can also act as a good gauge to where they're at with that question. So if they're coming to you with like a harder question, yeah, that is like, oh, I don't know what kind of answer you're ready for, flipping it back on them, I think can be a good gauge of where they are at with that certain scenario. Where it's like if their answer is still super kid-like and generic and whimsical, then it's like, all right, we're still in that period of life when like where do babies come from? Well, where do you think? Oh, I think storks fly over and drop them off. Okay, you're still there. We'll stay in that realm. That can be your answer.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, sometimes they ask questions that aren't really that they sound a lot deeper than they are. Right. Leo last night I got into bed with him and he's like, Dad, uh, do you ever feel like life's just really hard? But I'm like, Yeah, I do. Uh, what makes you think? Like, I tried to like expand on the conversation. He's like, no, no, it's just something that popped into my head. I was like, no.
SPEAKER_04:I'm gonna be riddled for the rest of my life. Thinking this through.
SPEAKER_08:It's like that Michael Scott in top of the head.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, well, let me know if anything comes to mind.
SPEAKER_05:Right. But I think in a lot of those things that we just talked about, it's showing interest, it's not dismissing, yeah. Um, which can be hard sometimes as a parent. With like life is hard and it is busy, and it can be very easy to just dismiss your kid or like five more. I just need five more minutes. I'm working on this. Like, don't bug me with this right now. Please, like, leave me alone, like, go ask somebody else. Like, that is you can hear yourself saying those words far more often than you would like, likely. Um, and I remember hearing um, I think it was the Gottmans, who are like a married couple who talk or both therapists, I believe, and researchers, and they study a lot about like marriages and marriage to another therapist.
SPEAKER_08:Right. Weird conversations.
SPEAKER_05:They're like very renowned questions people in that space, and a lot of researchers and people like really value their inputs. But I remember hearing one thing they talked about was um, I think they called it like the bird theory, and it's talking about a relationship, uh, husband and wife. But I think this applies to your kids as well, is like if your wife is standing at the window and is like, oh my gosh, look at this bird, and then you're like, honey, come look at this bird. And if you're dismissive about it and be like, Oh, okay, whatever, man, like cool, yeah, like great bird, sounds great. Whatever, babe. Like, no, no, I'm I'm busy, I'm working right now. I don't want to come look at this dumb bird. Why would you even call me over to look at a bird? Yeah, it's dismissive and it puts up a roadblock in that relationship, even though it's something very small. Where if instead you're like, oh, great, and you get up and you go to see the bird together, and you're like, wow, that is neat. Thanks for sharing that with me. And you go back to your life, you've now combined, you've worked into something together. That's something I'm finding hard with kids is to be able to show that same level of interest in the random shit or dumb shit that they bring up sometimes. And it's like, oh dad, look at this, or look at this drawing, look at this like Lego creation I did. And I've I've had times where I've been like, okay, cool, and then I've been like, ah shit, no, I gotta get up. I gotta do this. Like, I gotta cement the moment for them or whatever it is. Just show them that you care, right? By by giving them your attention, by giving them that time and sharing on whatever the dumb thing might be.
SPEAKER_08:But it's okay, and I think to tell them that you don't care about that stuff. And sometimes, like, I don't care about a about a balloon-shaped giraffe. I don't. I appreciate I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_10:This is you saying, I don't give a fuck about that balloon.
SPEAKER_02:Shut up.
SPEAKER_05:But like if okay. So I think it's there's a like I think of it as like a scale or a weight where it's like there's got to be more on one side than the other. Right. Yeah. Whereas like as long as it's not more dismissive about random things than it is.
SPEAKER_08:But like, yes, random dumb shit is we've talked about this before we went on air. My kids are on their 14th right no day. Right. I have had more dumb shit presented to me in those four days, 14 days. You're in the woods right now. I'm literally like, guys, mom says you can't have your iPads because it makes you crazy. But like, I'm ready. I'm ready to bring you to school. Give me one more dumbass presentation, and it's you're not getting grilled cheese for lunch. I don't know. But I like I'm at that point now where it's like, I can't, I can't handle it. Right. And I think it's okay to show them. Obviously, you don't do it in like a way where you're like, I don't give a fuck about your giraffe, but like you do it in a way where it's like, guys, I I do want to be present. I'm not gonna be present right now. So, right, like you guys talking to me about giraffes and and all this stuff. I'm so excited and happy for you, but can we just giraffe over there so that I can focus on this? Because right now, imagine if you were trying to focus at school doing a test, and your friend was like, Hey, I just farted in a cup.
SPEAKER_07:Come check it out. You know, it you'd be so distracted. Because a part of me wants to go smell the fart in the cup. You gotta check it out. That's it. But that's that's the fight I'm having. You know, they are a fart in a cup, and I'm like, I'm I need to do my work and I'm interested in you, and I want to go do the thing, and I want to be there, but I gotta be here to just fucking put a cap on the fart and I'll smell it later, you know?
SPEAKER_08:What is it? Just a fart in a cup.
SPEAKER_05:Arian and I were talking about different business ideas, and then we talked about like if you can sell your farts and putting them in there.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_05:We were saying if you have a fan section. Bro, I've never been on the fan like a black note Ziploc bag that you fart into, and then people can buy. It could be like a McDonald's fart or like a Domino's pizza fart.
SPEAKER_01:If you go on eBay right now, those probably already exists.
SPEAKER_09:Multiple different ways, different packaging, different options.
SPEAKER_05:I think our idea is that you can send it to a random friend. So, like in the mail, like Fartogram? That's been around since the early 2000s.
SPEAKER_04:Like, what's in this bag? Opens it. No, you don't open it.
SPEAKER_08:You just kind of like look at it and it goes, and that's basically it's called a fartigram.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, they didn't. Birds are still funny to me, sorry.
SPEAKER_08:Uh back to my 10 out of 10 weekend.
SPEAKER_06:Okay. Oh wow. Five stars. That took us only 36 minutes to get back to that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_08:Um, I felt like it was a good time. Yeah. I like it. We have implemented mandatory family Friday night. Yes, I just mentioned that. So it's either a game night or a movie night. We give it up to them. We do like a dinner, like a fun dinner, tacos, pizza, whatever. So we did that on Friday. It was the kids basically I I go to the dollar store and I buy like a I call it a kid's charcuterie. So it's like different candy. We split it between the two kids, and then I'll get like two or three bags of chips. I open it up, so there's like little things that they all Doritos or just different flavors? No. Well, a couple of bags of Doritos for himself part. No, no, they're part of the they're part of the family. So I got crunchy this week's, and I might just do this every week because it's very encouraging. So this week's was with Sour Patch Kids. Yep. Uh shoot. Nibs. No, the it's the the watermelons. Oh yeah. Yeah, the watermelons. Yeah, sour water. The watermelons, and then uh nacho cheese, nacho cheese, uh, Miss Vicky's and um crispy crispy Cheetos. Oh, so that was the kid chiccuterie. Now here's the here's the here's the thing that worked out great. Because these these family friends of mine, they have a real hard time agreeing on anything. Okay. For your part. Yeah. So I was like, I set it all up and a thing, and they're like, oh, I can't wait. I was like, no one gets these treats until we agree on a movie and we are like we're past the credits. We gotta get past the credits for you to get your things. I I've never seen a friendship bloom so fast. We can do it. I'm not kidding you. I wouldn't even think I was done with like the rules of operation. And they were like, We're watching Leo. And I was like, Are you okay with that? He's like, Yep. I was like, and I looked at Robin and like we didn't want to watch it because we've seen it a thousand times. But she was just like, I don't, I don't fucking care. Like they they agree, put it on. I was like, put it on. We put it on, boom, it got through the credits, boom, done. Then my son has like uh he's in hockey on Saturday mornings, right? So he has this it's like a bargaining thing where we're not allowed to like he doesn't like to stay on, he doesn't like to be told what to do. Right, okay. So, anyways, I was really proud of him because he wanted to come off a hundred times and I was like, no, and then he came off, I gave him some water, he went back on, and they he goes back on and then they let him play hockey for the first time. So it's the first time that he gets to do a little scrimmage half ice thing, and he scores his first goal, and he was like he thinks Sidney's Crosby name is Stinky Crosby. Okay, so he's like, I'm better than Stinky Crosby. He was like they're own chain, he doesn't even know it. Dude, it was like literally watching a commercial of like how the best dad life is, and it's like it there's something about watching your kids play sports that is like I don't know, man. It's it's wild. But we went from that to like a a good like family thing, and then boom, right into like football and and food and smoking. So um, anyways, this is what I was gonna kind of throw it out. I need on Tuesdays for you guys to give me suggestions. Questions for what to do on Sundays because I'm tapped. I can't figure out what to what to cook. Sundays are my smoking days.
SPEAKER_05:It's gotta be something bacon wrapped. Have you done bacon wrapped something?
SPEAKER_08:I did bacon wrapped burburgers one time.
SPEAKER_05:What about bacon wrapped asparagus? Oh, that is good. I've seen that. I've never had it. It just looks like it would just be presented.
SPEAKER_08:Yeah. Is this like a pizza? No, you're getting something healthy too. Garlic. Asparagurious? Ooh. Something unhealthy on something healthy. It mitigates the healthiness of the health.
SPEAKER_05:It's balance, Mark. It healthifies the unhealthy.
SPEAKER_08:No, it's science. It sucks the soul out of the healthy.
SPEAKER_05:Okay. Just bacon wrapped something.
SPEAKER_08:Okay, how about this? I'm gonna tell you what I'm thinking. And then you guys vote on whether or not it happens. We can do that. Set up a poll. Okay. So I'm thinking turkey or chicken breasts.
SPEAKER_05:Okay.
SPEAKER_08:Slice down the middle.
SPEAKER_05:I'll liking where you're going.
SPEAKER_08:With a like a thin or a thick, maybe like a I don't know the size, doesn't matter. Yeah. Um feta cheese inside the chicken breast. We wrap that. I'll brine it and then I'll put like a dry rub on there. Okay. Just cheese? Tell me more.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'm just gonna like a red pepper. Maybe. Or like sun-dried tomatoes if you like those. That's a good mix with that.
SPEAKER_08:Sun-dried, where do I find this? And what I in the grocery store.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know. I don't do the grocery store.
SPEAKER_08:Should be with your veggies or fruits.
SPEAKER_01:Tomatoes are confusing for me. Usually in a jar. They identified both ways.
SPEAKER_08:So, okay, sun-dried tomatoes. I like that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So then maybe that's don't overdo it though. They just need a little bit in there.
SPEAKER_08:Can you do lemon? Because the kids really like lemon chicken. Lemon chicken. Lemon juice? Sure.
SPEAKER_01:Would that pair well with it just doesn't it it never hurts? Okay.
SPEAKER_08:Would it pair well with the feta? Yeah. Can you throw garlic in there?
SPEAKER_01:You can throw garlic in there. Yeah, I know. That's true. Garlic and grease. Oh my gosh. It is a secret, a little secret sauce.
SPEAKER_08:But then I was thinking of doing a uh do you call them yams or sweet potatoes?
SPEAKER_05:Sweet potato, yeah.
SPEAKER_08:Sweet potato casserole. Oh. Cast iron on the smoker. Wow. With the chicken breasts. Yeah. But I need some sort of bacon wrapped asparagus.
SPEAKER_05:There you go. That's where it comes in. Bacon wrapped maybe the bacon.
SPEAKER_04:Bacon the baker at that point. She has to bacon wrap something for me.
SPEAKER_10:I'm always down for bacon, but I would just do asparagus with that. Just some garlic asparagus. Get some seasonal. That's a good meal. You're thinking.
SPEAKER_08:Sounds good.
SPEAKER_01:If you pull it off, then for approval. I mean, if I pull it off, I'll pull that out. I'm gonna pull it off. Have you guys been berated with uh uh bacon slander in your social media lately? No, no, it's devastating for me. Bacon? It's no, I keep seeing this post about it being a class one carcinogen, like on this in the same uh level as like smoking. Huh? It's devastating. I'll take the cancer.
SPEAKER_05:I don't lit up the kitchen with some bacon smoke on the weekend.
SPEAKER_04:We all took a little damage there.
SPEAKER_01:That'd be devastated, though. I don't bacon bacon. I love bacon, but I would also do bacon from like the butcher. So I could do that. I can't go back to the butcher, man. It's too early. Back with a 50 with a way too. Yeah, way too early.
SPEAKER_08:I'll come back to just the pig stout or the nose or something, and just so they told me it was bacon.
SPEAKER_05:My 10 out of 10 weekend. Yes. Um, may or may not also be Joey's 10 out of 10 weekend, depending on how it went for him. Yes. Um, the little secret news that I shared on the last episode came to fruition. Joey and I bought a cottage with our Joey's other brother, Josh, and his wife. Big news. So our three families came together. This is something that's been like in the works literally since the last time we were at this cottage in the summer. So we've rented this place for the past four years. Still haven't gotten an invite. The last time we were there, we rented for one week in the summer. We just got it on Friday, man. And the last time for years. The last time we were there in the summer when we were leaving, the owners came and they were doing like the turnover, the cleaning in between the guests. And Jo's wife, Meg, is a very chatty person. She'll make friends with anybody in her vicinity. Yeah. So she's just started chatting with her, and we're all kind of around listening to them talk. And then Meg's like, Oh, yeah, like, you know, if you're ever selling this thing, let us know. Ha ha ha ha ha. And then the the owner turned to her and was like, Well, actually, like, we've been considering it. Like, our kids are grown up, they've got kids, they're not really looking to take over the cottage, they're not in a place to be able to do this. And like, so if that's actually something you'd be interested in, then like we would love to sale to talk to you and do it as a private sale. Private sale, yeah. Yes, so they had told us what they thought they could get for it. Um, we went back after that and talked about it as a group and were like, I don't know, like, do you think this is a really good idea or not? Like, what should we do? Because it was it's a big undertaking to take on another property, right? And a lot of uh a lot of debt. But we talked about it and we kind of came to the conclusion of like we can't afford that. The price that they were asking for, there's no way we're gonna get approved. We had had a few family meetings, we had a family lunch to like solidify it. I think this was the first day of kids' school, actually, that we had like that discussion.
SPEAKER_08:Imagine that.
SPEAKER_05:And we kind of let the the bubble burst, and we were like, I guess it's not gonna be ours. Like, just send her back a message saying that like we can't afford it, unfortunately. This is the the most we could do. Um shy, like$200,000 shy of what they were hoping for. And my wife sent them that email, and then they got back to us being like, We could do that if you'd be willing to do it by this time or whatever, we'd be willing to do that. To which we were like, Oh shit, does this change anything for you guys? Like, do you do you want to do it again? And we're like, Well, maybe like now it makes it kind of into our bubble of affordability. Oh no. Um, so it brought it back up. I went through months of going back and forth with this mortgage guy that we thought was the right person to help us for it. Was not working out. This guy had some personal stuff going on, was not getting back to us. It just things were muddled. I talked to real estate agent friends of ours, and they were like, Oh, you gotta use our girl, she'll get it done for you. Get in contact with her, she gets us a pre-approval. We get the uh our real estate agent friends put this purchase agreement together. We got it all signed, everything's going well. The mortgage brokers trying to get us a mortgage. So all this time we're jinxed. Going through waves. Yeah, you don't want to jinx it. I feel like there is a healthy fear of like something being taken away from you that you're wanting, and it's not gonna happen. Yeah, so you're excited, but with a level of doubt that it's actually tempering your expectations. Going through the mortgage process, she gets us a lender, they go up, they needed an appraisal. Yeah, they go up and do the appraisal. The appraiser sends the thing in as like a short-term rental, which is going to like burst the bubble of our ability to do this. The lender backs out.
SPEAKER_03:Oh no.
SPEAKER_05:This is like five days before the closing. Oh no. And we're like, shit, what do we do? I guess it's not gonna happen. I guess we're not gonna be able to do this. Like the doubt starts seeping in, right? The mortgage broker worked her butt off. Same one, same person, worked her butt off, got another lender, got another appraisal done. We think we're in the clear. We hear the appraisal went well. All of a sudden, we get a call from the mortgage broker saying the appraisal did not go well. They valued the house like$70,000 less than what you are listing the payment at. We're like, what the hell? How could this happen? And she's like, I can I can go back to them and I can argue the appraisal.
SPEAKER_08:Timeout. Sorry to interrupt. How, if they were expecting$200,000 more, exactly my thoughts tried to figure it.
SPEAKER_05:It made no sense. The mortgage broker can appeal the appraisal and say, I think you did something wrong here. She, in her entire year of being a years of being a mortgage broker, doesn't really sell this very well. All of her years she's never had an appeal month be over like over like um accepted. Accepted, like they accept the appeal and that they were wrong on it, kind of thing. Yeah, um, this cottage property is broken up into two properties and it's being sold as one. Our thought was maybe they only evaluated the one and didn't include like the late front aspect of this. So then she goes back to them at that point. I'm like, we're screwed. This is again like three days before the closing that this is happening, and she's freaking out like, this is this is terrible. I'm so sorry. Like, I'm trying my best for you here. Then she calls me or sends an email on the Saturday saying you're not gonna believe this, but the appeal was over, like was approved, and you've got the appraisal you need now. Everything lined up within the last three days. We signed things off the last Friday on Friday, it was closing, and there's still there's still just that little seed of doubt. And when we got the like message from the lawyer saying that everything's official, this is your property now, it's on you, like it's yours. It was just like, holy shit, like it actually happened. Got the kids home from school, packed the bags, loaded up the truck, loaded up the car, the van, and we all headed up to the cottage this past weekend to spend the time together. And it was an incredible weekend together.
SPEAKER_08:Did it feel like yours?
SPEAKER_05:It did. Oh, in like the good ways and the bad ways, because it's a very cottage cottage. It's poppy, it's uh not level, it's not it wasn't handled by somebody in our industry. And when you now own those problems, you see it in a different light. So there was a little bit of that. Um we got some work on our hands, um, but it's exciting because it's ours, like we get to fix the things and yeah, that we always noticed weren't good about it kind of thing, and make it nicer.
SPEAKER_10:Um, close to Molly's cottage? No, no, I think she's more Miss Kokaside. Oh more coarthic side near Halby near Halberton. Yeah.
SPEAKER_08:Oh, well the Jeff Ryan's up there. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:He is, yeah. He already is wanting to get over there. Um but yeah, we we did all the things you could do in a winter cottage experience in two days. It was like a whirlwind of like shovel the lake and go ice skating on the lake. Joey found like a route that we could take in between trees to toboggan down this hill and down the driveway and everything, and talk about ex letting your kid experience some dangerous things. My kid going headfirst on a toboggan, weaving in between trees and down this road was pretty awesome. Um, but yeah, it was just it was a surreal weekend. Like I wrote an Instagram post and about my experience waking up there on Saturday morning and the feelings that you're feeling and the things that you were thinking about yourself, the doubt that you had and who you are and the accomplishments that you've had over your years. And there was just like I I was weeping in the kitchen with Joey and my sister-in-law on that Saturday morning. Just like I feel like a like a part of little Dave was healed in this like weekend, which was like really cool. And it just yeah, I felt myself kind of open up again in a way that I feel like I've been closed off to in a while. Um, which just yeah, it feels really exciting and really cool. Just letting yourself feel the feelings, feel the joy, feel the I think the the build-up of the weight and of the anticipation of something being taken away from you and being able to just fulfill that thing was just like all of the emotions that you had been holding on to that you didn't know were hanging on in the background, just went and you let go of that breath you didn't know you were holding type thing. It was really cool.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah, it was just a good family weekend too, like just to be up there with all the kids and just hear them interact with each other, like just the way they played together, and it's that being bored, like that's what a cottage is for. Yeah, and that's like that was my experience growing up. We had two family cottages, and that's what you did. You went up there and it was there's no TV. You're bored, there's one TV with a VHS player, but God help you, if somebody finds you watching it, like it's get outside and entertain yourself, right? So and that's it was a little different experience, obviously, now with the winter time. Like it's harder to be like, all right, just go outside and play. Like it's a bit of an adventure to get all your gear on, but just yeah, hearing the kids interact with one another and the way they play together just yeah, brought me back to how that was growing up.
SPEAKER_08:Do you think?
SPEAKER_05:We don't know, we're gonna have to rent it heavily to cover a lot of the costs. So there's that, but we will hopefully be able to like do the things that we can and make them have a cool scene. We do, it's called the Nest on E it's on Eagle Lake. The nest on Eagle Lake. It's uh it's kind of but it's marketable, it's kind of it's kind of a cool like family connection, too, that we've drawn to it. Like you can find connections in anything, but with Joey's dad not doing well and in the final stages kind of of his life, eagles have always been his favorite thing. Like an eagle sweater, an eagle statue, an eagle painting. It's always been like his mark of safety and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_10:He really dropped the ball on that one.
SPEAKER_05:He really did. Hell dad.
SPEAKER_08:Um Birdman.
SPEAKER_05:So then buying a cottage on Eagle Lake was something that was really neat. Like Joey's mom, they had this uh massive eagle sculpture at their old house, and they've never had somewhere to put it. And she was like, Oh, that would go great in that property. And it was just one of those, like, it'll be neat to have a piece of him there, and that he likely won't be able to get to it to see it. Yeah, and then my parents, before I was born, lived on this lake, like five houses down. No way, like right there. So they lived there with my brother, and my sister was born there before they moved into the city and then ended up having me. Yeah, it's a while. So it's weird that they had like a family experience there without me, and now I'm getting an experience there, like it's uh a full soul, full circle kind of moment, which is kind of neat.
SPEAKER_08:Is there a possibility you were conceived on the in this lake?
SPEAKER_05:No, no, no. My sister was born there, so I was 48. Yeah.
SPEAKER_10:But that would have been fun. Full circle moment. Yeah, it's conceived on this lake, and I'm gonna die on this lake.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, we're really excited. It's like a it's a big undertaking, and it's definitely something to be a little nervous about. But like just feeling that joy, and that's why I kind of brought up the conversation of like thinking of your kids getting older and letting them explore more and more dangers or not, right? Because now we've got this space where my kid can go get into trouble, like you can go out into the field, you can take the BB gun out somewhere and break something. Oh, yeah. Um, so yeah, it's like, or you can start random fires and you can do things. So it's a little nerve-wracking on those aspects of it. But but it's also neat to be able to let them adventure. So when we were leaving, Joe's family left, and the other family left, and it was just my family kind of there, and my kids were all getting so antsy to leave because all of their cousins have gone, and they know that like all the bags are packed and at the door, and they're like, Can we just go? Like, what are you doing? Blah blah blah blah. And I'm like, We have to do a few more things to shut down the cottage and make sure everything's safe. Like, literally, like, this is why we bought this. Like, just go outside, like, just go do something, like just adventure, just be outside, yeah. Okay, and then I saw the moment like switch on my son. It was like a light bulb just went off, and he went from being like grumpy and pissed off to like, oh yeah, Abby, you want to go outside? And they went outside and they went into the forest and they climbed a hill. That's what I'm saying. And they saw tracks in the snow. And they're saying, man, didn't stop.
SPEAKER_08:Take your kids to the country and just let them fucking roam. It's wild.
SPEAKER_10:Let them lose. Wild.
SPEAKER_01:Watch the animals come out. As a parent, I cannot picture a time ever when my kids will be waiting at the door saying, Let's go. Right? It's very confusing. Interesting.
SPEAKER_09:Never have I ever.
SPEAKER_04:I pray for those days.
SPEAKER_05:That usually happens at events when I'm still talking to people. They're like, Dad, let's go.
SPEAKER_04:Let's stop talking. Let's go. So funny.
SPEAKER_01:That's like every dad at church growing up. Yeah. Dads are getting dragged out of the building. Yeah. I had a 10 out of 10 weekend as well. Let's go. But it was uh not quite as grand, but it was still dinner with some wonderful friends. Amazing. And we paid off our van. So we have no car payment, which is beautiful. That's life's too. Big win. Beautiful. Great show. So it was a little celebration on Saturday for that.
SPEAKER_02:100%.
SPEAKER_10:I remember each of those moments, like with vehicles, and like we just had to get a new van this year. So like now I'm back into the payments. I still look forward to the day when you make that final payment. You're like, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Cancel it with the budget. It's a big win.
SPEAKER_08:It's a huge win. Yeah. Well, imagine if you were trying to focus at school doing a test, and your friend was like, hey, I just farted in a cup.
SPEAKER_07:Come check it out. You know, you'd be so distracted. Because a part of me wants to go smell the fart in the cup. You gotta check it out. But that's it. But that's the that's the fight I'm having. You know, they are a fart in a cup.